Armrests located on a vehicle door that extend inwardly from the door to provide a support for an occupant's arm to rest upon are well known and documented. Such armrests can be a separate structure attached to the door, or can be integrated into the door itself. Armrest assemblies of the type described above are substantially rigid structures that generally include a rigid supporting substrate covered by foam pad or cushion for softness. The rigid supporting substrate provides a load bearing surface directed to hold an occupant's arm and is generally parallel to the vehicle floor and extends from the vehicle door towards the interior space of a vehicle. The rigid substrate can be pushed into the side of an occupant during a vehicle side collision, and therefore, attempts have been made to weaken the rigid substrate such that it absorbs side impact. For example, past models of the Toyota Camry have weakening beads placed along the rigid substrate. The weakening beads cause the substrate to bend and absorb energy when the armrest is pushed into a passenger's side during a side collision having a predetermined force. Other examples of such armrests are provided below.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,121,611 to Hirotani et al. discloses an armrest having a support surface extending substantially horizontally in the direction of a trim body toward the inside of the vehicle. The support surface is further supported by a rigid substrate. A weak portion is provided between the trim body portion and the support surface that promotes deformation with respect to a lateral load.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,742,830 to Zimmerman et al. discloses a vehicle door armrest having an inner contoured piece of molding forming a support surface for an occupant's arm. The molding is one piece and is made of various layers of different material to provide predetermined shock absorption and deformation qualities.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,527,084 to Scherf discloses a vehicle armrest attached to the interior surface of a vehicle door. The armrest has a base fixed to the interior surface of the vehicle door and a rigid panel extending generally perpendicular to the base. The rigid panel forms a support surface for an occupant's arm and is disposed on the upper portion of the base. The underside of the rigid panel has a plurality of notches. The lower portion of the base has a plurality of ribs spaced apart and angled from each other. The ribs extend from the base to the underside of the panel and each rib is registered to one of the plurality of notches. Break lines are provided between each notch, thus the armrest collapses as it experiences a load from a side impact.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,181,759 to Doolittle discloses a vehicle armrest located on the interior side of a vehicle door having a tether or a cable to allow the armrest to collapse between the door and the occupant when the occupant exerts an outward force to open the door. However, the armrest is tensioned to transmit the load from the armrest to the door when an occupant pulls on the armrest to close the door.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,445,430 to Nichols discloses a collapsible armrest on a vehicle door presenting a generally planar surface for supporting an occupant's arm. The armrest has a trim panel, a foam layer and an undulating insert. The undulating insert presents an undulating surface, and the foam is shot on top of the undulating insert to present a planar surface. The planar surface is covered by the tri panel for aesthetic purposes. The armrest absorbs side impact by having the foam layer absorb energy and the undulating insert collapse under a predetermined load.
As stated above, these types of armrests not only provide support for an occupant's arm but are directed to absorb energy from a side impact to mitigate damage to an occupant. All of the armrests disclosed above do so by incorporating a weakened rigid substrate that extends laterally from the vehicle door towards the occupant. However, the weakened rigid substrate still poses a potential risk of injury to an occupant as the substrate is still pushed into the side of an occupant during a side impact of predetermined force. Thus it is desirable to have an armrest that can provide support for an occupant's arm without having a laterally extending substrate.